Our View columns are the consensus opinion of the Kitsap Sun's editorial board, written by the editor. The 2018 board is David Nelson, editor; Jim Campbell, opinion editor emeritus, and community members Allen Banks, Lanell Borelli, Redge Campbell, Shelley Kneip, Paul Nash and Peggy Templeton.

The 26th Legislative District can be a bruising place to campaign — just look at the PAC tactics our board criticized and recall recent bitterly contested races. With an opening for the Senate seat left by Jan Angel abruptly not running for re-election, voters should prep for another heated battle.

Two candidates in the primary — Democrat Emily Randall and Republican Marty McClendon — appear to be above the fray, at least to this point. The third name on the Aug. 7 ballot, Bill Scheidler, isn't worth your time. Scheidler's a regular in primary races and campaigns on little more than a personal grudge with the state's judicial system. Our board chose not to interview him, an uncommon move for us that you may read into yourself.

Randall and McClendon, however, are worth considering. One is a Republican who's no stranger to campaigning — McClendon's unsuccessfully run in the 23rd dating back a decade and two years ago made the state general election for lieutenant governor. This is Randall's first time on a ballot, but the South Kitsap High alum has career experience in nonprofit fundraising that provides her the polish to impress voters.

Our interviews with each candidate showed ideological differences you'd expect from liberal and conservative perspectives. Randall supports Democratic priorities like gun control, consideration of a capital gains tax and expanding public transportation options in the district; McClendon, who's background is in real estate and as a minister, toes the party line on issues like cutting regulations, standing firm against new taxes and turning more control over standardized testing to local schools.

For a first-time candidate Randall seemed very attune to ideas working elsewhere on tough problems — she mentioned the Utah model of "housing first" in regard to homelessness and the OC Promise as a path to furthering college opportunities. That shows she's looking for answers to deep social issues and would be able to suggest programs that work, and her personal demographic as a minority and a woman provides needed diversity. The drawback is that she's still a newcomer and can't yet cite state issues in great depth.

McClendon's strength comes on issues he's close to — like the failed capital bonds in South Kitsap and Peninsula school districts, which he believed could have passed by lowering the costs by using capital levies; or his interest in career and technical education, spurred by a story of his brother's dropping out before becoming a success in the trades. That showed us that he can translate the issues of daily life into policy guideposts. However, for a seasoned candidate McClendon leaves way too many detail gaps in his proposed policy solutions.

Interestingly, one place where the two intersect is their personal experience with the health care system. One of McClendon's sons dealt with a serious illness and a sister of Randall, born with a serious birth defect, defied the odds to live until age 19. They both know well the value of quality health care and insurance and understand how that issue affects families.

As with most other issues, they split ideologically on the topic. Randall advocates more comprehensive universal coverage and the possibility of a multi-state network that Washington could be part of to keep the exchange insurance afloat; McClendon pushes back on individual mandates for coverage people don't need, which he said could lower costs from the insurance companies and increase competition.

The 26th District is so contentious because it's so split — not so many years ago Democrats made up the entire delegation; it's been in Republican hands for the last two election cycles. The balance is healthy, and the good news is this Senate race has two candidates that have great potential to fill the void left by Jan Angel. Without a voting record to judge either candidate's credentials in terms of how moderate they'd vote, what we heard was two candidates racing to be the moderate voice of a swing district. Find their view on the issue you most care about to see which route would be best for our next Senator.